EVENTS

THO Organizes Roundtable for Turkish Foreign Minister

On Monday, June 4, THO partnered with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s U.S.-Turkey Business Council, the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), and the American-Turkish Council (ATC) to host Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu for a roundtable discussion in Washington, D.C.

On Monday, June 4, THO partnered with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s U.S.-Turkey Business Council, the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), and the American-Turkish Council (ATC) to host Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu for an invitation-only roundtable discussion with distinguished experts and think tank leaders on U.S.-Turkey relations.

On Monday, June 4, THO partnered with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s U.S.-Turkey Business Council, the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), and the American-Turkish Council (ATC) to host Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

In his remarks to the audience at the headquarters of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Foreign Minister Cavusoglu provided a recap of his meeting with Secretary Pompeo and covered a number of issues and topics relevant to U.S.-Turkey relations. Foreign Minister Cavusoglu expressed his delight for the endorsement of the “road map” on Manbij, saying, “I am very glad that we have achieved significant progress, and I can say that it was a very fruitful and successful meeting."

The Foreign Minister touched on economic cooperation and highlighted that in 2017, the trade volume between the U.S. and Turkey reached $20.7 billion. This year, the economic cooperation has been even better and is seeing an upward trend, with the total investment of U.S. firms in Turkey reaching $11.4 billion. In encouraging U.S. companies to invest in Turkey, the Foreign Minister said, “We are determined to further enhance our economic, trade, and investment cooperation.”

In his remarks, the Foreign Minister addressed the topic of the transfer of F-35 fighter jets, saying that the deal is already signed and the fighter jets are scheduled to be transferred on June 21. He noted that there haven't been concrete negative developments to prevent the transfer.

The Foreign Minister expressed his wish that the U.S., as a strong ally, will stand with Turkey when it comes to two major issues of relevance: the PKK/YPG and the Gulen movement. In his closing remarks, the Foreign Minister touched on the great success achieved during his meeting with Secretary Pompeo and the need for future dialogue and greater cooperation between the two countries. He emphasized that there is much that can be addressed mutually between the two countries to ensure peace and economic prosperity in the region, and only with cooperation can that be achieved.

The roundtable directly followed the Foreign Minister’s meeting in Washington D.C. with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Following the meeting, the U.S. and Turkey released a joint statement saying that the two countries “remain committed to addressing their common concerns in a spirit of allied partnership.” During their meeting, Foreign Minister Cavusoglu and Secretary Pompeo endorsed a “road map” for ensuring the security and stability of Manbij.

The two officials also agreed that working group discussions between the U.S. and Turkey would continue to take steps toward resolving outstanding issues in the bilateral relationship. To that end, a session of the Working Group on Judicial and Other Issues convened immediately after the meeting between Foreign Minister Cavusoglu and Secretary Pompeo.